AAI Applauds LaHood-Price Letter Sent to President Bush Ahead of May 2008 Middle East Trip

Letter to President Led by Representatives LaHood and Price and
Signed by 50 Others Urges End to Gaza Blockade and Exploration of
Ceasefire

WASHINGTON – May 21, 2008 –The Arab American Institute
(AAI) commended the bipartisan efforts of Congressmen Ray LaHood
(R-IL) and David Price (D-NC) calling for bolstered U.S.
engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. LaHood and Price
sent a letter to President Bush on the eve of his May 2008 trip to the
Middle East expressing the urgent need for the U.S. to work to stabilize
Gaza in order to strengthen and support ongoing peace talks. The
letter was signed by 52 members of Congress.

The letter called for mediation leading to the end of the Gaza
blockade as well as exploring potential efforts to achieve a ceasefire.
The letter recognizes that the siege is “exacerbating an already grave
humanitarian situation.… [A]ny solution to the current situation should
include exploration of a potential ceasefire, mediated most likely by
third parties or even by President [Mahmoud] Abbas.” The letter also
warned that “without such solutions, popular support for the peace
process among both Israelis and Palestinians will suffer.”

“Sustained U.S. diplomacy at the highest level is crucial in order
for real progress to be made on the ground,” said AAI President James
Zogby. “It is encouraging that Congress, under the leadership of
Representatives LaHood and Price, reiterated this message. They
recognize the importance of American leadership to move the peace
process forward.”

AAI joined a coalition of pro-peace groups that included Americans
for Peace Now, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, Churches for Middle East Peace,
Israel Policy Forum, J Street and the U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops in support of the letter by LaHood and Price.

Full text of the letter follows, including signatories.

May 14, 2008

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We write to express our deep concern over the ongoing crisis in
southern Israel and Gaza. We fear that the status quo, with its
constant threat of a new eruption of terror and violence, can too easily
derail progress toward achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement
in 2008.

So far this year, nearly one thousand rockets have been fired by
Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups from the Gaza Strip into
Israel – intentionally aimed at residential communities in southern
Israel such as Sderot, and reaching as far as the city of Ashkelon. We
strongly condemn these attacks and support Israel’s right to self
defense.

We recognize, too, that many Palestinian civilians and children have
been killed and wounded in Israel’s military operations in Gaza
targeted at Hamas and other militant groups. In addition, the blockade
of Gaza imposed by Israel in order to put pressure on Hamas is
exacerbating an already grave humanitarian situation. In this climate,
popular support for Hamas remains strong while the credibility of the
current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks is weakened.

We are concerned that unless something changes, progress toward an
Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement will continually be hampered by the
violence in southern Israel and Gaza. We believe that for the peace
process to be viable, solutions must be found to stabilize the Gaza
situation, preserve the achievements made in peace talks, and maintain
forward momentum. Without such solutions, popular support for the peace
process among both Israelis and Palestinians will suffer, and moderate
Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, led by President Mahmoud Abbas
and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, will be threatened.

Without doubt, any solution to the crisis in southern Israel and
Gaza must include unequivocal international condemnation of the rocket
attacks, including from Arab states. We support and encourage your
efforts to reach such an international consensus through the appropriate
forums.

Furthermore, any solution must end the Gaza blockade in a secure and
timely manner, including the possible re-opening of the Egypt-Gaza
border crossing under Palestinian Authority control. Any solution will
need to address the smuggling of weapons and materials into Gaza. We
urge you to work actively with Egypt, Israel, and, where appropriate,
the international community, to find solutions to this border challenge
that address Israel’s security needs, provide relief to the people of
Gaza, and create a climate more conducive to a successful peace process.

Finally, we believe that any solution to the current situation
should include exploration of a potential ceasefire, mediated most
likely by third parties or even by President Abbas. Recent polling data
suggests strong support for such measures among Israelis. In fact, a
poll conducted by Tel Aviv University and the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz
in February 2008 found that 64% of Israelis support efforts to achieve
an Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

We are not arguing for direct engagement with Hamas by Israel or the
U.S. Hamas is a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization sworn
to Israel’s destruction. Moreover, such engagement could undermine
Palestinian moderates. We also recognize the difficulties of reaching
and sustaining a ceasefire, and the need to guard against a ceasefire
becoming simply an opportunity for Hamas to rearm. For this reason, a
ceasefire cannot be an end in itself. Rather, a ceasefire has the
potential to halt the rocket attacks on Israeli civilians and prevent
the need for further Israeli military operations in Gaza for the
immediate term. It can then create the space necessary to help keep the
peace negotiations on track, to enable the return of kidnapped Israeli
soldier Cpl. Gilad Shalit, to address the smuggling of weapons into
Gaza, and to facilitate improvements in the humanitarian situation in
Gaza.

We strongly support Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and believe
their success is deeply connected to the national security interests of
the United States. As you continue your critically important efforts to
achieve progress in implementing the Roadmap, including issues such as
access, security, movement, and economic development in the West Bank,
we urge you to consider the recommendations outlined in this letter. We
look forward to working with you in your efforts to bring stability and
peace to the Middle East.